Compound bail



W' A. SBELEY.

COMPOUND RAIL.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 9, 1913.

@9i/hmmag Wim u SH01/naait WARREN A. SEELEY, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

COMPO'UND BAIL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 4, 1914.

Application filed December 9, 1913. Serial No. 805,552.

To all 'whomI it may conce/m:

Be it known that I VARREN A. SEELEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Compound Rails, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railroad rails, the object being to provide a reinforced rail of com iound formation, the main rail body .l being ormed of a webbed body having duy plicate ball shaped treads extending throughout the rail length rolled from high carbon steel and duplicate reinforce members each having an integral plate findino a seat in the web section of the rail body, ancla chamber or channel with a sloping wall adapted to permit being drawn up to the rail body by means of a sloping wall whereby a waterproof joint is effected between the two members of the compound rail. The reinforce member is formed of low carbon steel which will not crystallize under the pound of traffic and gives a wide base to the compound rail to provide a secure foundation on the cross ties of the` track. A compound rail of this structure affords numerous and inanifest advantaoes in point of safety and durability, the rail body being symmetrical both with respect to its upper and lower sides, and may be inverted or turned end for end thus permitting it to be shifted to either side of the track to afford a new tread or wearing surface to enga e the car wheels, or may be reversed witi respect to its lenfrth on the same side of the track with similar advantages, thus insuring four times the life of the rail in point of durability. By reason of the compound form of the rail the rail-body may be of less weight to the foot on the standard rail without loss and in fact with gain to the solidity and firmness of the track. rThe reinforce members give a very wide rail-base, and being drawn into snug relation with the body under the power of the bolts provide a solidity of joint almost equal to an integral molecular structure.

[i desirable feature of my structure is the arrangement by which the reinforce members being drawn into their seats snugly over sloping walls afford a water-proof joint between the abutting surfaces, reventing the infiltration of moisture throng the joint by capillary action, and the consequent liability of rust and depletion of the integrity and strength of the rail.

The invention comprises features the nov elty of which will be hereinafter more fully described and will be definitely indicated in the claims appended to the specification.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates my invention: Figure 1 shows one form of my compound rail; Fior. 9. shows a preferred form, both in section. Fig. 3 shows a side elevation of a portion of a compound rail. Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing a modified 'form of the surface joints between the two reinforce members.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings l represents the rail-body comprising a web 2 integrally connected at each side with a ball-head with a plain face to forni a tread for the car-wheels. This member of my rail is formed of a high-carbon steel which, as well known, under the pound of traffic has a tendency to crystallize and on occasions to break with disastrous results to trafiic and the safety of the public. I therefore use with the rail at each side a reinforce inen'iber of low-carbon steel, indicated at 3 and 8. I make these reinforce members equal in length to the rail-body itself and they may either coincide in position with the rail-body or may be staggered in assembling relation to provide an overlap at the ends for joints between consecutive rails. The reinforce members and the rail-body are united by bolts 4 through the web; these bolts are spaced about three and one-half feet apart along the track and are drawn up snugly by nuts in the usual inanner against spring washers 5, and the nuts are alternately reversed in position, thereby bringing the heads and nuts in alternation consecutively und equalizing the tension on the duplicate reinforce members, also insuring an equal and snug water-proof connection between the rail-body and the reinforce members at the junction surfaces between the several parts. The edge of the rein force member where it engages the under side of the rail-head is provided by the mill rolls with a curve of the same slo e as inclicated at 6, and a deep channel i) is rolled in its base provided with a sloping wall at the top to bear upon the sloping wall of the lower ball. This arrangement assures a clearance between the lower ball and the reinforcement which permits the bolts to draw the plates into snug water-tight relation along the sloping surfaces and prevents the infiltration of moisture to the rail and any deterioration of strength from this canse. rl`he reinforcement on its upper side has a spherical or rounded contour Where it seats against the adjoining parts of the head and web and is rolled to provide a Clearance space 8` which provides a large amount of elasticity and further insures a water-tight engagement at the top and bottom of the rail. The bottom of the reinforce meinbers when assembled leaves a small gap 9 permitting the plates to be drawn up snugly under action of the bolts, This will in ordinary cases bc found sutlicient as the sloping wall in the reinforcement. assures exceedingly snug relation between the base of the rail and the web, and under ordinary conditions `will prevent the entrance of moisture, hat in some cases where greater immunity is desired l. may provide an overlap on the two reinforce plates upon the road-bed; such arrangement is shown in Fig. 4 at 10.

ln Fig. l I have shown a somewhat modified form of my rail; here the adjoining surfaces of the body and reinforcement are at right angles as indicated at 11; the upper and lower edges being held with square shoulder-joints instead of a wedge, the reinforcement fitting in between the upper and lower balls of the rail on each side of the web at right angles thereto, making ay square shoulder-joint reinforcement above the web and the ball of the rail.

It is apparent from the structure herein described that the several parts of the compound-rail are interchangeable with one another and may be reversed in position with respect to right or left or top or bottom; this follows both with the reinforcementand body-member.

In accordance with the patent. Statutes I have described the best organization known to me for carrying out my invention, but obvious modifications may be made within the scope of my claims without departing trom the spirit of my invention. I have spoken of low carbon steel for the reinforcements. I regard any tough, malleable, noncrystallizable metal as the equivalent of low carbon steel.| as tungsten or chrome Steel or the like, whether in fact. it be steel with an iron base or other tough, malleable metal, with or without carbon.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. A railroad rail comprising a body portion of high carbon Steel symmetrically formed with respectl to top and bottom so as to be inverted or reversed end for end. `and reinforcements at each side of identical formation with a clearance magazine at the web adapted to be drawn into watert-ight relation thereto, each reinforcement extending the length of the rail and overlapping underneath tlie body.

2. A compound rail comprising a reversible double head rail of high-carbon steel, having a tread at the top and bottom, reinforce plates of low-carbon steel equal in length with the rail, at opposite sides thereof, and a sloping wall with adjoining clearance magazine to permit the reinforcement and the rail body to be drawn into water-tight engagement throughout the length of the rail. A 3. A compound rail comprising a rail body of high-carbon steel with identical tread surfaces at the top and bottom, and interchangeable reinforce platesl of lowcarbon steel at the sides havingsloping walls to engage the rail web with a wedging action, a clearance magazine to permit the reinforce plates to be drawn into watertight non-corrosive relation to the rail body and a flange on each reinforce plate overlapping a liange of the companion reinforce plate to form a watertight seal and a support for the rail.

4. A compound 'ail comprising an I-rail of high-carbon steel with identical shaped treads at top and bottom, and reinforce plates of low-carbon steel at both sides equal in length to the rail provided with sloping walls and engaging at the angle between the web and the rail heads at both sides with water-tight joints, the tivo plates overlapping at the rail-bottom, the plates being staggered relatively to the rails to form fish-plates at consecutive rail joints. 'WARREN A. SEELEY. `Witnessesz JAMES W. SEELEY, EDWIN A. Hoses.

Copie: of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of etentsn "Washington, D. C.

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